Fake Cows Ready for Milking at State Fairs as Bird Flu Looms
Editor
31 August 2024 23:57 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Wisconsin - In Michigan this year, where dairy workers and herds have fallen ill from bird flu, a pair of unlikely prized cows are being prepped to take the state fair stage.
State fair organizers are this year featuring Milkshake and Buttercup, two life-sized fiberglass cows complete with rubber teats and water-filled udders, for a popular milking demo.
The head of the Minnesota State Fair's Moo Booth came up with a similar workaround for its hands-on milking event: a fake dairy cow named Olympia.
"Normally, we'd have a real cow out there," said Jill Nathe, the fair's deputy general manager of agriculture and competition. "We just can't do that right now."
As avian influenza continues to spread, infecting cattle herds for the first time this year as well as four dairy workers, U.S. state and county fair organizers have been forced to reimagine nostalgic summer traditions long celebrated by city and rural folk alike.
For farmers and students eager for blue ribbons and bragging rights, the outbreak has forced them to navigate new testing rules and manage logistical headaches in order to obtain a clean bill of health for animals before entering the show ring.
State and local officials say they are trying to protect people and animals from the H5N1 virus as some dairy farmers have declined to test their herds. Experts worry that further transmission of the virus could help it adapt to spread between humans.
The risk of viral spread among herds prompted some county fairs in Michigan to cancel dairy shows, while the Iowa State Fair shuttered its milking barn.
In Minnesota, state fair staff procured extra gloves and face shields from COVID-era stockpiles for the livestock crew, and kept pregnant dairy cows out of the fair's birthing center.
Several farm states, including Wisconsin, required lactating cattle to test negative within seven days of arriving at the fairgrounds.
Wisconsin dairy farmer Rick "RT" Thompson said he had to carefully time visits from his veterinarian, so the milk test results for H5N1 would fall within the required window for different fairs. His vet's wife personally drove samples to a state lab in Madison to ensure they arrived on time for testing.
"It's not a convenient thing," said Thompson, 57, who has attended Wisconsin's state fair for 46 years.
Michigan banned lactating cows from all public exhibitions until the state goes two months without finding an infected herd. With only one state fair per year, the chance has passed for 2024. Michigan last reported a case on Monday.
"We were all waiting for that 60-day window," Michigan State Fair livestock director LC Scramlin said. "But we kept having another case and another one happen."
